Religious Nuts beat their own Child to death.

[tavarish]

I know Norway and Sweden have a high percentage of atheists, but are Christians free to practice their religion there without fear of the government? That part I don't know about because I have not read or heard anything about the politics there. The atheistic countries I was most familiar with were the Communist ones.

Norway has one of the highest GDPs per capita in the world, has a very well represented political system (6+ parties), and has the highest Human Development Index in the world. They have churches, and anyone can practice any religion they like.

There is absolutely no fear of the government at all.

[Gilligan]

I know Norway and Sweden have a high percentage of atheists, but are Christians free to practice their religion there without fear of the government? That part I don't know about because I have not read or heard anything about the politics there. The atheistic countries I was most familiar with were the Communist ones.

Norway has one of the highest GDPs per capita in the world, has a very well represented political system (6+ parties), and has the highest Human Development Index in the world. They have churches, and anyone can practice any religion they like.

There is absolutely no fear of the government at all.

Thank you for sharing that with me. Are they allowed to share their faith, or do they have to keep it at church and home ?

[Tiberius]

What is the difference between secularism and what is described in the YouTube videos above?

Secularism is the idea that government and religion should be separate. That is, governments do not have any say about what religions can say / do, and religions do not get to lobby in government. There is no national religion, mainly because such a mandate would be unfair to all the citizens who did not subscribe to that religion.

This does not mean the government is atheistic, because the government simply does not have an opinion on God rather than saying God does not exist. The government as an organisation is apatheistic in a sense.

There is nothing stopping Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists, etc from running for positions in government, from talking about their religious beliefs, or even from mentioning God. What is stopped through secularism is favouritism in government for a single set of religious beliefs over another. So you can be a Christian in government, but you must legislate for everyone (not just Christians). Similarly, you can be an atheist in government, but you must legislate for everyone (not just atheists).

What the videos described (being forced to say "Christianity is stupid" again and again by the government) simply wouldn't happen, because that is a government position on religion, and as I've already said, in secularism the government cannot have such positions.

[tavarish]

I know Norway and Sweden have a high percentage of atheists, but are Christians free to practice their religion there without fear of the government? That part I don't know about because I have not read or heard anything about the politics there. The atheistic countries I was most familiar with were the Communist ones.

Norway has one of the highest GDPs per capita in the world, has a very well represented political system (6+ parties), and has the highest Human Development Index in the world. They have churches, and anyone can practice any religion they like.

There is absolutely no fear of the government at all.

Thank you for sharing that with me. Are they allowed to share their faith, or do they have to keep it at church and home ?

You can do anything you want. It's a free country. However, the trend in that country is that even if you do proselytize, the majority won't believe you anyway. Ah, the wonders of human development.

[Tiberius]

Thank you for sharing that with me. Are they allowed to share their faith, or do they have to keep it at church and home ?

Of course they are allowed to share it. Why wouldn't they be?

[Gilligan]

What is the difference between secularism and what is described in the YouTube videos above?

Secularism is the idea that government and religion should be separate. That is, governments do not have any say about what religions can say / do, and religions do not get to lobby in government. There is no national religion, mainly because such a mandate would be unfair to all the citizens who did not subscribe to that religion.

This does not mean the government is atheistic, because the government simply does not have an opinion on God rather than saying God does not exist. The government as an organisation is apatheistic in a sense.

There is nothing stopping Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists, etc from running for positions in government, from talking about their religious beliefs, or even from mentioning God. What is stopped through secularism is favouritism in government for a single set of religious beliefs over another. So you can be a Christian in government, but you must legislate for everyone (not just Christians). Similarly, you can be an atheist in government, but you must legislate for everyone (not just atheists).

What the videos described (being forced to say "Christianity is stupid" again and again by the government) simply wouldn't happen, because that is a government position on religion, and as I've already said, in secularism the government cannot have such positions.

The way you describe it seems much more reasonable to me.

[Minimalist]

Ah, the wonders of human development.

We need some of that here.